In some door-equipped vehicle body structures, an opening is provided in a rear portion of the vehicle, and grips are provided on either side of the opening such that each grip extends vertically. With a hand on the grip, a passenger can get in the vehicle from the outside of the vehicle or get out of the vehicle from the inside of the vehicle.
In this door-equipped vehicle body structure, the opening is provided in the rear portion of the vehicle. Therefore, when a passenger gets out of the vehicle, the passenger, having stood up from the seat, will put the hand on the grip while facing the outside of the vehicle, and get out of the vehicle from the inside to the outside (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).
It is to be noted here that, when the passenger who has stood up gets out of the vehicle while facing the outside of the vehicle, it is preferred that the passenger get out of the vehicle with the hand put on the grip from above.
Further, in some of the door-equipped vehicle body structures, a lining is provided to the interior side of the door of the vehicle, and a grip oriented laterally is provided to project from the lining toward the inside of the vehicle in a horizontal direction. Owing to the grip projecting laterally, a space is provided between the grip and the lining.
The laterally projecting grip allows the hand to be placed on the grip from above easily. By pushing the grip toward the outside of the vehicle with the hand on the grip, the passenger can open the door (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).
However, because the grip projects laterally from the lining, when the hand is placed on the grip and a weight (load) is applied on the grip from above, the load acts on a position remote from the attachment part of the grip toward the inside of the vehicle.
As a result, the load acting on the grip from above causes a downward rotational force (moment) to be applied on the attachment part of the grip. To support this downward rotational force, it is necessary to adequately increase the stiffness of the attachment part of the grip.
Further, because the grip projects from the lining toward the inside of the vehicle, the grip is placed in the space inside the vehicle. Thus, the space inside the vehicle is reduced by the grip, and in such cases as when luggage is loaded into the vehicle (particularly, into the rear portion of the vehicle), the luggage may interfere with the grip.
The grip, projecting laterally from the lining, is provided with a switch on an upper surface thereof. The switch is an operation switch for releasing engagement between the vehicle and the door.
By putting the hand on the grip and operating the switch, a user can release the engagement between the vehicle and the door. If the grip is pushed toward the outside of the vehicle in this state, the door is opened.